US military chief warns Iraq on security deal

American military chief Michael Mullen bluntly warned Iraq Tuesday that it risked security losses of "significant consequence" unless it approves an agreement on a legal basis for U.S. forces there.

Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also charged that Iran was working hard to scuttle passage of the so-called Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA.

"We are clearly running out of time," said Mullen.

Mullen said that when the current U.N. mandate runs out December 31, Iraqi security forces "will not be ready to provide for their security. And in that regard there is great potential for losses of significant consequence."

The admiral, who was on a visit to Europe, made the comments as the Iraqi cabinet took up a draft status of forces agreement negotiated over a period of months with the United States.

Mullen said that Iraqis did not appear to recognize the seriousness of the situation.

"It is also clear that the Iranians are working very hard to make sure this does not pass," he said.

Raising tension

In an incident that could raise tension at a time when the Baghdad government is taking over the program from the American military, Iraqi security forces raided the home of a provincial leader of U.S.-backed patrols on Tuesday.

Mullah Shihab al-Safi, leader of the Sahwa (Awakening) movement for the volatile Diyala province north of Baghdad, told Reuters troops had raided his house before dawn, arresting his brother and father, in Buhriz, south of the provincial capital Baquba.

Safi said by telephone he was not at home at the time and was now moving from place to place to avoid capture.

The Awakening groups are made up mostly of Sunni Arabs and include many former insurgents who battled U.S. forces and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad but since have been recruited and paid by the U.S. military to run neighborhood patrols.

The Iraqi government has been taking over the program from the U.S. military, beginning this month in Baghdad and spreading to other provinces in coming months.

Officials say they will incorporate 20 percent of the patrol members into the army and police while finding civilian jobs or training for the rest.

Unlikely before Nov.4

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari on Monday said that the pact to allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years is unlikely to win approval in Iraq's parliament before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4.

Zebari said Iraq still hoped to enact the pact before the end of this year when the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the U.S. presence expires, but acknowledged difficulties reaching agreement among Iraqi political leaders.

"The aim is to sign the agreement in the fastest time possible, preferably before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4, but given the political contentions we don't think this is possible currently," Zebari told Al Arabiya television.

Washington and Baghdad reached agreement on a final text of the pact last week, which would require U.S. forces to pull forces off Iraqi streets by the middle of next year and leave the country altogether by the end of 2011, unless asked to stay.

But the pact hit a snag on Sunday when a meeting of leaders of Iraqi political blocs declined to endorse it. Without the backing of the leaders of the political blocs, the fate of the pact is uncertain.

In Iraq, the only blocs that have endorsed the pact without reservation are the main Kurdish parties, whose members include Zebari and President Jalal Talabani.

Refusal of Shiites

Crucially, the Shiite alliance of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Sunday it wanted to seek amendments to the draft, which had previously been described as final.

Their Shiite rivals, followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, are deeply hostile to the pact and staged a massive street demonstration against it on Saturday.

Iraqi officials have begun discussing a "plan B," under which they would ask the United Nations for an emergency extension of the existing U.N. mandate if the pact is not ready by the end of the year.

But in Washington officials said they were not yet ready to seriously look at other options. "We're focused on trying to get that agreement" with Iraq, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

Iraqi officials say the draft would allow Iraqi courts to try U.S. troops for serious crimes committed while off duty, which they have described as a major concession from Washington.

But the pact would put in place a number of safeguards to protect U.S. troops from prosecution, and some Iraqi politicians have voiced reservations about that mechanism.

The aim is to sign the agreement in the fastest time possible, preferably before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4, but given the political contentions we don't think this is possible currently

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari